Alison

I am an English native speaker and am fluent in French and Spanish. I have recently relocated with my young family back to where I grew up in South Devon. I love teaching and sharing my own love of languages and the richness and experiences they bring.

Tutoring Experience

I am a well-qualified and experienced teacher of French and Spanish. I have worked in a range of secondary schools since I qualified in 2011 and have been Head of Languages for the last eight years. I have experience of teaching GCSE French and Spanish and A Level Spanish using a range of exam boards. I have been an AQA speaking examiner and, as Head of Department, I keep up-to-date with the requirements of a range of exam boards. My degree focused on literature, history and politics and I have honed my knowledge of these areas whilst teaching A Level. I regularly run interventions sessions with small groups of students to boost their confidence and improve their progress.

Tutoring Approach

I use a range of activities to enthuse students. I make use of a variety of games and interactive tasks to increase engagement. I am able to break down complex grammar points to enable students to understand and use them in their own work. I have an excellent understanding of meta-cognition and how students successfully learn a language and am able to utilise this knowledge to improve students' outcomes and ensure good progress is made. I have a keen understanding of exam boards' mark schemes and how students can best showcase their knowledge to achieve strong results.